Abdul El-Sayed Reacts To Becoming First Muslim Elected To U.S. Senate | The View — Transcript

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1. 0:00After a hard fought Senate race full of
2. 0:02controversies and a hell of a lot of
3. 0:05hope.
4. 0:06So please welcome the first
5. 0:09Muslim ever elected to the US Senate.
6. 0:13Abdul El-Sayed.
7. 0:18[music]
8. 0:32[cheering and music]
9. 0:35[applause]
10. 0:36[cheering] So
11. 0:37Senator, Senator, Senator, [laughter]
12. 0:39Senator.
13. 0:41Senator.
14. 0:43This was one this this election
15. 0:46history was made on so many levels.
16. 0:50But I think you're going to go down as
17. 0:52one of the biggest parts of that
18. 0:54history.
19. 0:56As the first Muslim ever to be in the US
20. 1:00Senate and a WHOLE LOT OF [applause]
21. 1:06A WHOLE LOT WAS made
22. 1:09about your faith in the race, but you
23. 1:12stood
24. 1:14you stood
25. 1:14>> Strong and firm.
26. 1:17>> But the people and the people, not but
27. 1:20and the people came out anyway. So
28. 1:24how you doing?
29. 1:25>> [laughter]
30. 1:26>> I'm good.
31. 1:27I'd like to get a little more sleep, but
32. 1:29Now to your point, WPI, you know, first
33. 1:31it's a pleasure pleasure to be with you
34. 1:32all and grateful to be here.
35. 1:35They weren't attacking me. They were
36. 1:37attacking the idea of an America big
37. 1:38enough for me.
38. 1:40And I think for a lot of folks in
39. 1:41Michigan, I know Michigan, I didn't take
40. 1:43a bet on my abilities or anything. I
41. 1:45took a bet on the goodness of the people
42. 1:46in Michigan. And you know, I've been me
43. 1:48my whole life. And so you you get to see
44. 1:50the full way that people interact with
45. 1:52you. There's always a few small-minded
46. 1:53people want to make America small like
47. 1:54them.
48. 1:55But the vast majority of people they
49. 1:57want a big America. I took a bet on them
50. 2:00that bet more than paid off. And so I'm
51. 2:02just proud of my state for showing up
52. 2:04and saying that we are bigger than this
53. 2:06kind of divisiveness. We want to get
54. 2:09money out of politics, put money in our
55. 2:10pockets, pass Medicare for all.
56. 2:11>> Yeah.
57. 2:12>> [applause]
58. 2:15>> Um
59. 2:16you know politics is is has been ugly
60. 2:19for a long time, but in in my view I
61. 2:22have never seen it as ugly as it was
62. 2:25when it came to you. And I spoke about
63. 2:27it a lot at at this table. Uh JD Vance
64. 2:31said that there was something about you
65. 2:32that is very very evil.
66. 2:35Um Trump, President Trump's called you a
67. 2:37jihadist that would have to go through a
68. 2:39metal detector before you're allowed to
69. 2:41go into the Senate.
70. 2:42Bernie Moreno said that you can be
71. 2:44nowhere near Washington DC and then
72. 2:46finally Ted Cruz called you a jihadist
73. 2:49leprechaun. I don't even know what that
74. 2:51means. But
75. 2:52[laughter]
76. 2:53yeah I don't even know what that means,
77. 2:54but um you handled it expertly.
78. 2:58But were you surprised at the level of
79. 3:00vitriol and the level of racism and
80. 3:03bigotry and Islamophobia directed your
81. 3:06way?
82. 3:08>> If they had something to say about the
83. 3:09price of gas or the price of groceries
84. 3:12or the fact that people can't see a
85. 3:13doctor, they would have said it.
86. 3:14>> They didn't have anything to say.
87. 3:16>> have anything to say. And I kind of knew
88. 3:18that they were going to reach for the
89. 3:18red meat. And here's the problem with
90. 3:20the red meat, it becomes an addiction.
91. 3:22Once you go there and you put that out
92. 3:23there and you say something, then you're
93. 3:24forced to defend it.
94. 3:26>> Yeah.
95. 3:26>> So what do they do? They double down and
96. 3:27they double down, they triple down
97. 3:29again.
98. 3:29>> Yeah.
99. 3:30>> And so I wish I could tell you oh my god
100. 3:32I'm I'm so surprised, but like I said
101. 3:33I've been me my whole life.
102. 3:35And more often than not people don't
103. 3:36want to actually debate the issues.
104. 3:39>> Yeah.
105. 3:39>> Instead they want to debase the
106. 3:41politics. And that's exactly what we
107. 3:43saw. Um and it for me the the
108. 3:45opportunity was to say look you can talk
109. 3:47about my name and my faith all day if
110. 3:48you want to, but they're not the reason
111. 3:50you can't afford your gas or you can't
112. 3:51afford your groceries, not the reason
113. 3:52you can't see a doctor. I mean if you're
114. 3:53seeing a doctor they might actually have
115. 3:54my name in my faith.
116. 3:55>> Yeah.
117. 3:56>> Um
118. 3:57you know
119. 3:58>> Very possible. What you said when they
120. 4:00said you should go through a metal
121. 4:01detector, do you remember what you said?
122. 4:03>> I did. I did. I I'll do a metal detector
123. 4:04all day cuz I got nothing to hide.
124. 4:06>> Yeah.
125. 4:06>> But Donald, if you're watching,
126. 4:08lie detector is still on this table.
127. 4:10>> Yeah.
128. 4:12>> And [applause] he does watch us. And he
129. 4:13does watch us.
130. 4:14Um let me just ask you, you know, I I I
131. 4:16read all these things that these folks
132. 4:18have said about you. You're you're going
133. 4:19to work with Senator uh Bernie Moreno
134. 4:22and Ted Cruz. Um
135. 4:24how will you approach that?
136. 4:26>> Look, I'm a professional. I I'll work
137. 4:28with anybody if it means that we could
138. 4:30get something done for the people of the
139. 4:31state of Michigan. And that's the
140. 4:32responsibility. Like I I'm not there to
141. 4:34to go play politics. And I think people
142. 4:36are sick and tired of this retribution
143. 4:37politics. They did this, so we do this.
144. 4:39It is not about politicians. It is about
145. 4:41the public we serve.
146. 4:42>> Right.
147. 4:43>> I got elected on a very clear set of
148. 4:47messages. I want money out of politics,
149. 4:49money in your pocket, Medicare for all.
150. 4:50And if you're willing to get that done,
151. 4:52let's sit down and figure out how to get
152. 4:53that done. If you want to play political
153. 4:55games, I think people are realizing I
154. 4:57don't back down, I don't shut up.
155. 4:58>> Yeah.
156. 4:58>> But I'm not going there to play
157. 5:00political games. So I'm looking forward
158. 5:01to sitting down with every single one of
159. 5:03my Senate colleagues. You could say
160. 5:05whatever you want about me, but I'm not
161. 5:06here to defend myself. My job is to
162. 5:08defend the people who can't afford the
163. 5:09basic means of a dignified life. So
164. 5:11let's sit down. Let's figure out how to
165. 5:12roll up our sleeves and get work done.
166. 5:13>> You were displaying a strength of
167. 5:15character when [applause] you speak like
168. 5:16that. Yeah. And I appreciate it. But a
169. 5:19lot of people are trying to wonder are
170. 5:20trying to figure out what happened. How
171. 5:22come we got this big blue tsunami?
172. 5:24[laughter] You know, and um President
173. 5:27Trump and JD [clears throat] Vance
174. 5:29have pointed to the war with Iran,
175. 5:31which had directly led to uh prices
176. 5:34going up. I think that that was
177. 5:35connected. Um and the corruption was a
178. 5:39top issue. Or what what do you think it
179. 5:41is?
180. 5:42>> You know, Joy, I wish I could say, oh,
181. 5:44well, the Democrats have a mandate cuz
182. 5:45people love Democrats. They don't.
183. 5:47People are sick and tired of being sick
184. 5:49and tired.
185. 5:50People are tired of
186. 5:51going to work every day, taking on extra
187. 5:53shifts, and then not being able to
188. 5:56afford the things that they need and
189. 5:57deserve. I talked to a gentleman, and
190. 5:58his his son is an amazing baseball
191. 6:00player. And he said, look, I can't
192. 6:01afford to put my kid in baseball.
193. 6:03>> Mhm.
194. 6:04>> I mean, you talk about a American dream.
195. 6:05That's what that is, right? And I think
196. 6:09we need to step back for a second and
197. 6:10realize that this this politics, the way
198. 6:13that we even cover politics, we've
199. 6:14turned it into a spectacle like it's
200. 6:16sports. It's not sports. Right? I I root
201. 6:18for the Michigan Wolverines. Everybody
202. 6:19knows that. And when we beat Ohio State,
203. 6:21it is the most meaningful thing that
204. 6:22happened to me. But guess what? Nobody
205. 6:24dies on the back end of it.
206. 6:25>> No.
207. 6:25>> Yeah.
208. 6:25>> Politics is not that. The decisions we
209. 6:27make have life and death consequences,
210. 6:29and we need to start acting like it. So
211. 6:31I think we won because people are tired
212. 6:33of a president who is a joker, who took
213. 6:35us to a war he can't seem to end, who's
214. 6:36more interested in the drapes in a
215. 6:39ballroom than he is interested in our
216. 6:41lives, whether or not we can even afford
217. 6:43a a home with another room. And I think
218. 6:45we need to start acting. But he doesn't
219. 6:47care. But like it's action. So I want
220. 6:49Democrats to step back and say, look, it
221. 6:50is not about us prancing around like we
222. 6:53got a mandate. It is about us delivering
223. 6:55for the American public to make life
224. 6:57more affordable, to make sure that folks
225. 6:59understand where they're going to get
226. 7:00their next meal, that they got dignity
227. 7:02at work, and that they can see a doctor
228. 7:03when they get sick. Nothing short of
229. 7:05that is going to be worse than
230. 7:06>> any stupid wars either.
231. 7:08>> And Senator, look, this is actually a
232. 7:09great segue to what I want to ask you
233. 7:10because I think a lot of this blue wave
234. 7:12was a response to Donald Trump and his
235. 7:14allies thinking 2024 meant that the
236. 7:17country wanted the most extreme views of
237. 7:18MAGA, and he went full bore into Project
238. 7:212025 and everything else, rather than
239. 7:23laser focusing on affordability, border
240. 7:25security. You come from the more
241. 7:27progressive flank of the Democratic
242. 7:29Party. Do you see this as the party
243. 7:31should be focused laserly on
244. 7:33affordability and cost of living, or do
245. 7:35you think it should be more about
246. 7:36progressive policies?
247. 7:37>> Well, I I want to think about what
248. 7:38progressive policies are, right? If
249. 7:40you're saying we should stand up to
250. 7:41corporations and oligarchy, that's about
251. 7:44making life affordable. Everybody in
252. 7:46this audience right now has a cell
253. 7:47phone, probably made by one of two
254. 7:48carriers.
255. 7:49Everybody here has probably one of three
256. 7:51carriers that give you operability on
257. 7:53that cell phone. That is corporate power
258. 7:56to the level that we have not seen in
259. 7:57this country for a very long time. Think
260. 7:59about Medicare for all. It's just saying
261. 8:01that everybody should have guaranteed
262. 8:02health insurance without having to worry
263. 8:03about how much they got to pay on the
264. 8:04back end. So my point is this. If our
265. 8:07policies are about trying to solve real
266. 8:09problems for people, that's what we need
267. 8:11to focus on. And I just want to step
268. 8:13back because we talk about left and
269. 8:14right, Democrat, Republican all the
270. 8:15time. I don't think that's the divide in
271. 8:17our country anymore. It is the people
272. 8:19who are locked out of our politics
273. 8:20against the people doing the locking
274. 8:22out.
275. 8:22>> Yeah.
276. 8:22>> And I want to stand with the people who
277. 8:24are locked out against the people doing
278. 8:25the locking out to make sure that no
279. 8:28matter what the circumstances are of
280. 8:29your life, you know that you're getting
281. 8:31a job that gives you a fair wage,
282. 8:33>> Mhm.
283. 8:33>> that you can see a doctor when you get
284. 8:35sick without having to worry about the
285. 8:36bill, that you have time with your
286. 8:38family so that at that end of that 8 9
287. 8:41hours of work that you're not busy
288. 8:42scrolling in your phone because you've
289. 8:45got corporations with addictive
290. 8:47algorithms that lock your eyeballs and
291. 8:48eardrums to sell you stuff you don't
292. 8:50need, right? Those are the kinds of
293. 8:51things that we need to be thinking
294. 8:52about. What is the user experience of
295. 8:54life in America right now and how do we
296. 8:56operationalize that? So, a lot of my
297. 8:57policies are just about asking, well,
298. 8:59where there's a corporation with too
299. 9:00much power in society, how do we take
300. 9:02some of that power back and give it to
301. 9:04everyday people?
302. 9:05>> Okay.
303. 9:06>> [applause]
304. 9:11[applause]
305. 9:13>> I'd have voted for you too.
306. 9:15>> [laughter]
307. 9:15>> I'd have been so honored to earn your
308. 9:16vote.